Our last full day in Vancouver was today. Weeeeeird. Even though I am ready to sleep in my own bed and see all my wonderful friends and family, I am really going to miss this place. Granted, I don’t know how long I would last living in a big city like this one, but it is definitely somewhere that I could visit on a frequent basis. Especially now that I’ve made so many AWESOME friends up here! That’s what makes leaving tomorrow so hard. Chances are that I probably will never see most of the faces, if any, that I saw every day over the last two weeks ever again in my life. Now, I absolutely HATE to be a Debby Downer, but that makes me so sad! One thing is for sure though: I will remember the people that I met on this trip for my whole life. Each person that I met and formed a bond with while I have been here has made SO much more of an impact on the rest of my life than any of them could possibly imagine. Vancouver 2010, you were AWESOME!
To go out with a bang, most of us from the group took the ferry over the Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. It was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! I honestly wasn’t even able to take a lot of pictures while I was there, because I was too busy trying to savor every last second of it. The ferry over was proooobably the best part, because we passed several islands before reaching Victoria, and all of them were distinct and just indescribably gorgeous.
It was a 30-minute drive to the ferry, about an hour and a half ride on the ferry, and another 30-minute drive into Victoria. I even got to drive one of the vans because Teresa already had plans for the night. Not gonna lie, I felt pretty sweet driving that cute little Dodge minivan all around town. Kerri, Christine, Julia, and Sarah rode with me and my nickname quickly became “Mom.” How fitting, right? They kept telling me that I would make the cutest minivan mom ever, but I assured them that I would NOT be an owner of a minivan. Range Rovers only. That being the case, I guess I’ll start reproducing when I’m around 70. Why? Because that’ll be about the time I’ll be able to afford something like that. Life savings, don’t fail me before then!
While we were riding the ferry, we constantly looked for whales to pop out of the water, but unfortunately that never happened. Nevertheless, it was still an incredible view! Once we got there, we split up and went our separate ways. Six of us stuck together and our first stop was FOOD! Duh! : ) We ate a little fish shack, and it was yuuuuummy! The best part of the meal? Getting to see three SEALS playing in the water beside the restaurant! It was so exciting! I have never in my life seen a REAL seal, and I can assure you that I will be talking about that for a WHILE!
After eating dinner, we just walked around and tried to see as much of the city as we could. We took a few (or maybe a lot of) pictures, went into a few stores, and made it halfway to an old castle before deciding that we wouldn’t make it there and back before it was time to leave. There was so much culture and history in the city, and that was definitely one of my faaaavorite parts!
When we got boarded back onto the ferry, we were able to watch the last few minutes of the Paralympic closing ceremony. Andddd I cried. See, I told ya I was sad about leaving! I was able to pull it together, and we went roaming around the ship to pass the time. A few of the girls wanted to do a little last-minute shopping, so we dropped them off a few blocks away from the hostel.
Packing this time was a LOT harder than before, which makes sense because I’ve gotten a tonnnnn of new stuff since I first packed. Our volunteer uniforms take up a good bit of room in my bag, not to mention all the other little knickknacks I’ve picked up along the way. I wish you could have seen Kerri and me trying to zip up my big suitcase. The perfect sentence to describe our fiasco is this: “I pulled a muscle.” Haha, it was intense! We got it zipped though (praise the Lord!), and all my stuff is ready to go bright and early in the morning. We have to be downstairs in the lobby at 8 o’clock in the morning so we can get loaded up and head to the airport. And then it’s goodbye Canada, hello again America. It will be bittersweet, fo sho!
And now, I am about to crawl into bed for one last night’s sleep in the beautiful city of Vancouver. I think I’m going to fall asleep listening to some good slow songs tonight, starting with “They’ll Never Know” by Ross Copperman. Ross always knows how to make me feel better, so it’s all on him tonight!
Sweet dreams for the last time from Vancouver. I can’t believe the time has finally come to leave. It’s been absolutely amazing!
“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” –Anais Nin
annnnnnd then get jarred awake by the random piano solo, 10 minutes after you thought the song was over bahahahaha. Gets me EVERY time. Btw, I'm never getting a minivan either blechhhhh. Range Rovers all the way! Maybe our best friend Hilarie Burton will give us her's when she upgrades.
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